Hamas and Israel maintain ceasefire despite violence

Credit: Reuters

Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend a temporary ceasefire for five days, allowing the sides to continue to negotiate a substantive deal to end the war in Gaza.

Yet even as the extension was announced minutes before a previous truce was set to expire at midnight, violence erupted with Palestinian militants firing five rockets at Israel and Israel targeting sites across the Gaza Strip in response.

The ceasefire extension is meant to grant both sides additional time to negotiate a longer-term truce and a road map for the coastal territory.